Unexpected Secrets
by KayBeth13
Summary: Daria always knew she was adopted, but it isn't until her fifth year at Hogwarts that she finds out just who her real parents are. How will her best friends, Fred and George Weasley react? Will they stand by her or reject her? George/OC
1. Daria Jackson

_Right, this story is made completely on a whim, but I have a really good feeling about this story and I hope you stick with it as I really feel it will become something special. Well, that's my hope anyway. Please enjoy and reviews are always bound to put a smile on my face! (Not dropping any hints or anything haha!) On with the show...Oh and please let me know if I'm too ooc in this chapter. I don't think I am but it's better to be told than get it badly wrong_

**Malfoy Manor, January 13th, 13 years ago**

"One more push Mrs Malfoy and it's all over." the medi-with calmly stated. With one final agonising scream, Narcissa Malfoy pushed for all she was worth and a baby's cries filled the room.

"What is it?" Came the voice of Lucius Malfoy as he entered the room and saw the baby being wrapped up in a pale green blanket.

The medi-witch almost looked fearful as she responded to him.

"It's a girl Mr Malfoy"

Lucius frowned at the information, and his expression turned cold and thoughtful. Though exhausted, Narcissa wanted nothing more to hold her baby, but seeing the look in her husband's eyes left her with a feeling of dread. She just knew what was going to happen. Lucius walked over and peered at the baby, looking at the bright blue eyes staring back at him. Lucius then looked at the medi-witch, all thoughtfulness gone, just coldness being left behind.

"I have no need for a girl. I don't care what you do with her, I want her out of my sight and I never want to see her again."

With that he moved to leave the room, stopping only to give his wife one last look and vanishing out of sight. Narcissa turned her teary blue eyes towards the medi-witch and held her arms out to the baby, and she was passed to her. She cradled her child and watched with a sad smile as her daughter nuzzled into her.

"My baby. My darling" She whispered softly.

She knew that she would never hold her daughter again, and as she was taken from her mother, the infant began to scream. Narcissa herself struggled to hold herself together, but she knew she had to stay strong. She could only watch with tears falling as the med-witch left with the infant, the only thing she felt able to do was to shout out a single sentence.

"Her name is Daria!"

The medi-witch nodded and finally left and Narcissa cried with sorrow, vowing that when she finally did have a son, she would do everything in her power to ensure that she protect him.

And so it was that nobody but Lucius, Narcissa and the medi-witch knew, not even Lord Voldemort or even Narcissa's own sister Bellatrix knew about the existence of Daria, all they were told is that the infant had died in childbirth. Lucius soon forgot he even had a daughter once his son Draco was born just two years later, but Narcissa never once gave up hope that one day her daughter would return to her. Of course, Lucius brushed the notion off, claiming that the child would never know about the magical world and would never come back, but he didn't take one factor into account.

Albus Dumbledore. And how one day, 11 years later a young girl named Daria Jackson, who up until that moment thought she was a regular young girl that had done a few unexplainable things in her past that had since been forgotten, received her letter offering her a placement at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a position she enthusiastically accepted.


	2. Meeting the Weasleys

_I'm really not happy with this chapter to be honest but please stick with it, I assure you it will improve with time!_

**January 13th, 11 years later**

Marie and Steve Jackson slowly crept into the bedroom of their adopted daughter, and as one moved over to the curtain, the other one moved over to grasp the girl's duvet covers. They looked over to each other and nodded. In unison, the curtains were flung open and the covers were flung. With a cry, Daria flew up and began to curse her parents. Before she could speak though, a small pile of presents were being pushed towards her and she grinned as they both began to sing happy birthday. She stood up and hugged them both.

"Thank you guys, so much!"

They both hugged her back and she jumped onto her bed, tearing the paper off her presents and grinning broadly as she pulled out a new jumbo sized notebook and a nice pen set. Since she was a small child, she had been obsessed with writing, whether it was stories, a journal or even school work, she loved it. She also loved reading and studying, as strange as it sounded. It showed in her work though as she was always top of her class, and was currently being set work intended for students three years above her. Her other presents included some new clothes and a couple of new books for her reading pleasure.

The family moved downstairs and just as they began eating breakfast, there was a strange tapping noise coming from the window. Steve stood up and slid the window open to peer out for the source of the noise. He suddenly cried out and Marie screamed as a large tawny owl soared into the kitchen and calmly perched itself in front of an amused Daria. She raised her eyebrow and the owl dropped a letter in front of her before soaring off again. While her parents rushed around trying to make sense of what had just happened, Daria laughed as she opened her letter, but by the time she had finished reading it, she had fallen completely silent, her mouth dropped open. Eventually, Steve noticed his daughter's silence and he turned to ask her what was wrong.

"Honey? Everything ok?"

"Umm, I don't understand what the thing with the owl was, but it gave me this letter."

She handed the letter to Marie, who read it, but instead of looking surprised, she smile with pride and turned to Steve

"Well, she may have been raised muggle, but it seems Dumbledore knows her heritage."

Steve smiled wide and hugged Daria, who looked at him in total confusion.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, you know you were adopted. All we know about your parents was that they were a witch and a wizard and they had requested that you be raised by muggles, who are non magic folk like me and your father here. Hogwarts is where people train to be witches and wizards, but only people with potential to do well are asked to go. Obviously, Dumbledore, who is the headmaster, has decided that you deserve to be a witch."

They let the information process in Daria's mind, and when it finally did, she let out a shriek and flung herself at them hugging them tightly.

* * *

As June rolled in, Daria found herself growing more and more excited, yet also more and more nervous. After all, she knew nothing about the magic world, only that she was about to go to a school named Hogwarts, and to buy her school supplies, she had to go to a place called Diagon Alley in London. Fortunately for her, she had received a letter a few days after her original one with directions on how to find it. Her parents had decided to wait until she had completed her year at her muggle school before taking her to buy her school supplies. As they neared the road where the pub called the Leaky Cauldron was, the excitement threatened to consume Daria, but she firmly pressed it down, not wanting to appear too eager in front of anybody that could potentially be peers of hers. They found the pub relatively easily, and the barman Tom showed them into Diagon Alley.

It took all her energy to not pass out there and then as colours and sights and smells attacked her from all angles. Men, women and children of all shapes and sizes walked around wearing strange garments in a variety of colours. Shop windows filled with sweets, animals and one with a broomstick. Her hands shook as she took out her letter and began reading the supply list again. Until this moment she had been slightly sceptic, but seeing it in front of her, she could tell that this was no joke. Her parents linked arms with each other, just as awe struck as their daughter, and they smiled as she moved ahead, darting around and peering into every window she could see. They stopped to ask about money, and the kind witch pointed them towards the huge white building that was Gringott's. Once again, Daria ran ahead of her parents, but as she entered and saw the goblins dotted about, she froze in shock and almost fear, then turned to run back out, only to collide with someone and sent them flying. She too landed on the floor and she groaned. She looked at the other person to see that it was actually two people, a pair of twins with flaming red hair, brown eyes and mischievous smiles. She sat up and opened her mouth to speak but she was interrupted by a woman rushing towards them, also with red hair, only not as bright as the twins'.

"Fred! George! How many times have I told you to watch where you're going?" She called

Daria stood up and once again opened her mouth, only to growl slightly and roll her eyes as her parents also came over and her mum called out to her.

"Daria! Please be a bit more careful!"

She turned to face them and didn't fail to notice the identical grins on the two boys' faces.

"Mum! I...urgh"

She shook her head slightly before turning to face the twins and the woman, who she assumed to be their mother.

"I'm so sorry that I ran into you both. I just saw those things in their and freaked out."

The twins' mother looked at her with a soft expression.

"Do you mean the Goblins? They're in charge of the bank. You must be muggles, I assume."

Daria glanced at her parents before rubbing the back of her head and grinning sheepishly.

"Guilty as charged. This is my first time anywhere like this."

"Well dear, I assume as well then that you are about to start your first year at Hogwarts?"

"Yes"

"Oh, brilliant! My two troublemakers here are too. My name's Molly Weasley and these two are Fred and George."

She pointed to each of the twins and they frowned.

"Oi! I'm Gred!"

"Yeah and I'm Forge!"

"Sorry boys"

Daria turned an amused expression towards them.

"Gred and Forge"

"Our own personal names" They answered in unison.

Daria laughed softly and introduced herself to them. They both gave over-dramatic bows and each grasped one of her hands and kissed the back of it. One of them winked and gave her a flirtatious smile, the other gently smiled at her. She blushed slightly at their actions before moving back over to her parents who each placed an arm round her shoulders. The group stayed together for the rest of the day, Molly showing Daria and her family round and helping them choose the correct things from each shop. When they reached the shop that Daria had seen the broomstick in, the twins started an animated discussion about quidditch and the rules. Molly rolled her eyes in amusement and offered to buy Steve and Marie a drink, an offer they both accepted. Molly also gave each of the twins money so that they could but their own wands.

This was the moment she was looking forward to the most; buying her very own wand. She followed the twins into the shop and she actually noticed that they both seemed slightly nervous. An ancient looking man came through towards them, and after he had measured up the twins and presented them with their wands, that naturally were almost identical, it was Daria's turn. She nervously stepped forward, and noticed that one of the twins was sending her an encouraging smile. Fighting back a blush, she walked over to Ollivander and once he measured her, he pulled out a box from the back.

"Cherry Oak with Phoenix tail, perfect for transfiguration."

She grasped hold of it but he quickly took it back. He put the box away and pulled out another wand, which again, he took from her before she'd barely even touched it. Four wands later, Daria was starting to worry, but before she could voice her fears, Ollivander's face brightened as he handed her the next wand.

"Ah, yes, Silver Birch with Unicorn hair. Beautiful and dainty, yet extremely powerful, perfect for charms and stronger magic."

As she grasped it, she felt a glow of warmth flow through her and a wide smile appeared on both hers and Ollivanders faces. She paid for her wand and the three of them walked out of the shop to join their parents. As they entered the Leaky Cauldron, Daria noticed that a man had joined her parents and Molly, but she immediately saw that he was the twins' father. He too had red hair, and as he saw the kids moving toward shim, his face broke out into a wide smile and he moved forward to clap the boys on the shoulder. He then introduced himself to Daria as Arthur, and once they'd all sat down and had something to eat and drink, Marie and Steve decided it was time to get home. Fred and George gave Daria identical grins and promised to find her on the Hogwarts Express. She smiled and thanked them, suddenly feeling much more confident about everything.


	3. Sorting

_MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! I'm slightly recovering from having a bit too drink so I've decided to update and wake up a bit lol. Please enjoy!!_

True to their word, on the 1st September, after saying farewell to their parents and waved until the train had pulled them out of sight, Fred and George set off down the train on the search for the Blonde haired girl. They eventually found her in a compartment with one other person, a coloured boy with dreadlocks, and the pair were having a small discussion. Fred cleared his throat and she looked up at them, smiling happily as she recognised their familiar faces.

"Daria! How lovely to see you here on such a fine day!" Fred exclaimed before swooping into an exaggerated bow and noisily kissing the back of one of her hands.

She giggled slightly and saw George roll his eyes. He took a more subtle approach ad just gave her a one armed hug and said he was happy to see her again. He then turned to the boy in the carriage with them.

"Hey, you a first year too?" He asked

"Yup. Hopefully I'm a future Gryffindor. Ravenclaws are too..."

"Brainy" The boys all spoke in unison and smiled.

"Hufflepuff are..."

"Pansies" More smiles.

"And Slytherin..."

"Gits"

The three of them all burst out laughing and Daria smiled at their antics. It was like they'd all known each other for years, not mere minutes. When they calmed down the other boy stuck his hand out towards the twins.

"Name's Lee Jordan"

"Fed and George Weasley" they responded.

"Which is which?"

"Ah, you have to figure it out"

Lee looked towards Daria for help and she almost lazily pointed to the twin sitting nearest to her.

"That's Fred; the one next to you is George"

The twins raised their eyebrows at her.

"How do you know though?" Fred asked.

"Subtle differences. George is slightly quieter and not as flamboyant. Also Fred, you have a small mole on the side of your right ear, which George does not have. Fred is also the one that usually speaks first too."

"Not all the time I'm not!" He yelled.

Daria said nothing, just gave him a look that clearly said I-told-you-so, before turning her gaze out towards the scenery outside, ignoring the laughter coming from Lee and George. After a few seconds, she turned back to them with a curious expression.

"What do you mean by Gryff...whatever it was you said?"

George looked at her at first in amusement, then in realisation and finally, understanding and he remembered she was a muggle and had no idea of the housing system. The majority of the journey was then spent with the three boys telling her everything there was to know about the school that they knew. In the end, she decided that she too would rather be in Gryffindor. Ravenclaw didn't sound too bad either, but though she was intelligent, she had recieved one too many nasty comments about it and so wasn't so keen on the idea of being in a house where she was likely to receive those comments once again. She agreed that Hufflepuff sounded a bit...weak, but at the same time she felt that they were exaggerating a bit. Slytherin, she felt, made her shiver at the thought. Cruel, calculated and evil were the three words that seemed to be most associated with the house and she dreaded even thinking of the possibility of ending up there. That and she would hate being in a house hated by so many.

As the train drew nearer to the school, a prefect from Ravenclaw poked his head in the room and advised them to change into their robes. The boys all waited outside while Daria changed into hers and then she waited outside while they changed into theirs. She kept giggling though as she kept hearing strange bangs and noises as well as complaints and moans as they kept crashing into each other. Eventually though they were ready and just in time too as the train halted just a few seconds after they reopened the door for her to come back in. They stumbled out onto the platform and saw a huge man standing at the end calling for the first years. They hastily made their way over and the man smiled warmly, his eyes crinkling slightly at the edges. Once all the first years were present, he introduced himself as Hagrid, and then he showed them over to the boats on the lake. Daria fell into a silent awe as she saw the castle approach, and her breath hitched at the magnificent sight. Even the twins were silenced, though only for a few seconds. Before long they were back to chatting excitedly and eventually, Daria rejoined the conversation. When they were met by McGonagall and told that they would soon be sorted into their houses, Daria felt herself stop altogether and knew she had paled. George noticed and while Fred laughed at her nervousness, George quickly explained that all she had to do was put on a hat that would choose her house. When she asked him how he knew it, he said that his older brother Charlie, who was starting his final year as a prefect and Gryffindor quidditch captain, had explained it all to him.

She moved with the rest of the group towards the great hall, looking around her in awe at all of the sights, from the ceiling to the mass of students seated at the four tables stretching down the length of the halls, to the colours of the school logo and finally the head table with a three legged stool and the old grubby hat seated on top. As she looked around, she saw that amongst one of the tables with students wearing red and gold ties, she saw two other red heads, the older looking of the two giving his twin brothers a smile and a wave. There were many empty seats next to the older Weasleys and Daria couldn't help but hope that she would be seated in one of them. As the list of names was read out, Daria began to feel nervous once again. She was the first one out of the group of four to be called out, and she shakily walked up to the seat. Professor McGonagall gave her a reassuring smile and she placed the hate on her head. Immediately a voice came into her head and she jumped very slightly.

"Ah, a Malfoy eh? But how strange this is. You do not scream dark magic."

"A Malfoy? My name is Jackson."

"I'm never wrong my dear. However it is extremely curious that though your heritage screams at me to place you into Slytherin, I cannot find a single part of you that tells me to place you there, so I won't. This is a very difficult decision. You have a surplus of intelligence, yet you do not seem willing to show it happily or confidently. You are very innocent and gentle, but not overly so. You have plenty of courage too and a fierce loyalty to those you love, but where to place you?"

The hat spent a few more seconds deciding, but finally it spoke the one word that would change her life forever.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Daria removed the hat, the largest smile of her life on her face and she joined the table of students that were now cheering her. She noticed the older Weasley motioning to her and she sat next to him.

"I'm Charlie. The twins told me about you and asked me to save a seat for them and you."

"How did they know I would end up in Gryffindor?"

"I'm not overly sure, but if there's one thing those two have, it's amazing intuition"

Daria nodded and turned her head to watch Lee being sorted, clapping and cheering with everyone else when he too was sorted into Gryffindor. She didn't pay much attention after that, just clapping every time she heard Gryffindor being called out. When it came to the twins, the hat hardly even touched their heads before calling out Gryffindor, and they both bounded over to the table, broad grins on their faces. Fred dropped next to Daria and George sat next to him. Charlie congratulated them, and they smiled before Fred turned to the other redhead that hadn't spared a single look at them so far.

"Hey Perce. Aren't you going to say hello?"

"Or congratulations? Or are you just sore that we actually ended up in this house where we could ruin your image?" finished George.

The other boy puffed out his chest slightly in clear annoyance.

"Will you two be quiet? Dumbledore is speaking! And don't you dare ruin this family's reputations!"

Charlie frowned slightly and leant forward enough to be heard by all of his brothers.

"Percy, calm down. Fred, George, enough."

None of them argued with him and turned to listen to the end of the headmasters' speech. Once they had finished their fest and had been shown the common room (which Daria found absolutely beautiful), she felt extremely tired and all she wanted to do was curl up and sleep, so when she was shown her room that she was sharing with three other girls called Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson and Abigail Hugh, they all smiled and introduced each other before quickly heading to bed, all of them too tired to talk. Daria slid under the covers and felt a shiver of excitement. She couldn't wait for her lessons to begin the next day.


	4. Year One: Christmas

_Happy New Year everyone! Sorry for the later update, I've had a busy time lately! Well, without further ado, on with the show- and before I forget AGAIN, here is the disclaimer: In no way do I own any recognisable thing or character in my story. I am just a bored almost 19 year old girl with a lot of time and imagination on my mind, and this is my way to vent it. I make no profit on this story and no matter how much I wish it, Fred and George do not belong to me. However, Daria and Abigail DO belong to me and if anyone tries to borrow them without permission I will hunt them down ;)._

_Anyway, enough of that- please read and more importantly, enjoy!!!!_

The months passed quickly, and Daria soon found that she had a talent for magic that she never would have believed. She soon began to excel in her subjects, often leaving her at the mercy of Fred and George's teasing. She saw her first quidditch match, and immediately couldn't wait to try it for herself. Her first flying lesson went well, again showing that she had natural talent. By the end of the lesson, she found herself confidently chasing Fred and doing a spin over him to grab the hat he was wearing. Though she had been scolded for doing so, madam Hooch had also hinted that she had the skill to try out for the team the following year.

Before she knew it, a form was posted up on the Gryffindor notice board for people to sign if they didn't want to go home for Christmas. Daria looked at the list one morning and noticed with surprise that Fred, George, Charlie and Percy's names were all written down. She kept it in her mind as she headed down to breakfast. As she entered the great hall, she immediately spotted Fred and George, but there were no empty seats next to them. In fact, the closest seat she could get to them just happened to be next to Percy, so with a slight sigh of defeat, she moved over to the annoying boy and sat down next to him.

"Morning Percy."

Percy looked at her for a moment in mild surprise, then saw that Fred and George were a few seats down the table and realised she was only there because it was the nearest seat to them.

"Good morning Daria"

George heard Daria's name and quickly looked up, sending her a grin and a wave as he caught sight of her. Fred too saw her and when he saw who she was sitting with, he burst out laughing. Daria gave him a look that told him he would be paying for that later, and he gulped knowing full well that she actually would do something. Ignoring the twins now, she turned to her plate and began to place food on it. She had a few mouthfuls then turned to Percy again.

"Hey Percy? I saw that you guys have your names up to stay here for Christmas. How come?"

"Mother and Father have decided that this year they would like to take my two youngest siblings to Scotland as they've rarely been able to have any special time alone with them, especially with the twins to look after."

Daria frowned, not liking the way he spoke about the twins, but she decided against saying anything about it and turned back to her food. A few minutes later, Percy left the room, and within seconds of him leaving, the seat next to her was now occupied and she looked up to see Fred grinning at her. She groaned and continued eating.

"Wow, you don't seem happy to see me."

"Making fun of the fact that I was sitting next to Percy is bound to make me not like you right now" She bluntly stated.

Fred looked at her, not sure of what he should do, and he eventually moved to stand up and leave, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him down again.

"Just don't do it again, or I WILL punish you, got it?" She warned.

Fred gave her a mock salute.

"Got it ma'am"

Daria rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything, the post arrived and a small owl landed in front of her carrying a letter with her mum's handwriting on the envelope. She quickly took the letter and gave the owl some scraps of bacon, then quickly opened the letter with a large smile on her face. As she read it though, her smile slowly dropped, and by the end, she felt tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Fred asked.

"It's my Gran. She lives in America and is very ill, so my parents are going to spend Christmas with her. The only problem is that they can't afford to take me as well, but they don't want me to be alone..."

Fred cut her off.

"Well, stay here with us! Then you won't be alone!"

"I agree. You need friends around you, and that's definitely us!" George added as he joined them.

Daria smiled warmly and pulled the pair of them into a hug. They all started laughing and she put the letter in her bag before linking arms with them both and heading off to their charms lesson. As soon as she had the chance, she ran up to her dorm and quickly wrote a letter to her mum to let her know that she would be staying at Hogwarts for Christmas. She also asked her mum to buy her presents for her friends, as she knew she wouldn't have chance to get out and buy them for herself. Just as she finished her letter, Angelina came up into the room with a large excited smile on her face.

"What's up?" Daria asked.

"I've been told by Madame Hooch that I'm good enough to try out for quidditch in our second year!" she squealed excitedly.

Daria stood and gave her friend a hug, feeling just as excited. She too had been told by Madame Hooch that she was talented, and so had Katie Bell, who was Angelina's other best friend. The door opened once again and Abigail walked in. She ignored the other two girls, quickly putting her bag down and leaving the room again. Daria wasn't very fond of her, but only because she seemed very rude. Angelina was her best female friend by far, and Katie was a good friend, but Daria wasn't overly happy about Katie's habit of gossiping. Alicia was also relatively quiet, but she still liked to join in when Angelina and Daria were having a laugh about something. Daria told Angelina that she had to go and post her letter, and soon she found herself heading up to the owlery. On her way, she bumped into someone and quickly apologised. She looked up to see Oliver Wood smiling at her. She only knew who he was because he was the keeper on their house quidditch team. The only other thing she knew about him was that he was in his third year with Percy, and already everyone knew that when the current captain, Kyle Brody left, Oliver was the number one choice to take his place.

"It's ok, you just need to look where you're going" Oliver joked, accepting her apology.

She chuckled slightly and he offered to walk with her up to the owlery. She agreed and soon they were walking along, and Oliver was teaching her everything she needed to know about quidditch. Once they reached the owlery, he grasped her hand and gently kissed the back of it. She blushed slightly and as she stepped backwards, she tripped and ended up sitting on the floor, blushing even further with embarrassment. Oliver didn't laugh though.

"Oh, are you ok? Here, let me help you."

He helped her up and once he was sure she was ok, they separated. Daria quickly moved over to a small barn owl and attached her letter to its leg. It stretched its wings and flew off into the sky, eventually becoming a tiny speck. She watched it go, a small smile on her face. A loud bell rang through the school, and she quickly ran back down to the dungeons for her potions lesson, with none other than the Slytherins. She barely made it in time and dropped into her usual seat next to Lee, who gave her a thumbs up at her timing. She grinned back and pulled her parchment, quill and book out just in time for Snape to walk into the room, who immediately took five points from Gryffindor because Fred was smiling too much.

* * *

Christmas came quickly. Before anyone knew it, it was the last day before students went home. Lessons finished early and parties broke out in all of the house common rooms. All of the girls in Daria's dorm were heading home. In fact, she was actually the only female in the whole house that was staying behind that year. The only males staying were the Weasleys and Oliver, and as far as she knew, the rest of the houses also only had a handful of people staying too. When she asked Oliver if it was like that every year, he nodded.

"Yeah. It's quite rare to have more than about thirty students stay each year. During Easter holidays though there's usually more people, mainly fifth and seventh years studying for their O.W.L.S and N.E.W.T.S. They're the exams needed to graduate from here."

"Oh, similar to GCSEs and A-Levels in the muggle world?"

"Yeah, it is." Oliver said, not actually knowing at all.

Daria giggled, knowing that he had no idea what they were, before she moved up to her room to go and collect the present she bought for Lee. While she was up there, she saw Abigail packing her suitcase.

"Hi Abigail."

Abigail looked up in surprise and gave her a quick nod of acknowledgement before returning to her packing. Daria shrugged and pulled out a small packet for her roommate.

"It's not much but I got you a small present. Happy Christmas"

Abigail looked shocked for a moment, but quickly composed herself and took the present, smiling her thanks. As Daria was about to shut the door, she spoke.

"Thank you. And, I prefer to be called Abi."

Daria smiled and continued shutting the door. She found Lee sitting by the fire in a chair next to the twins. She dropped his present in his lap and he quickly opened it, grinning when he saw that she had bought him a muggle whoopee cushion, and one whoopee cushion that she had charmed so that it made animal noises when someone sat on it. He jumped up and hugged her, making her giggle and squirm out of his arms. His present for her were a pair of ear muffs that played music. Later that night, she gave the rest of her dorm mates their presents and they all hugged and squealed together as they were opened. She too received presents from each of them. Alicia bought her an enchanted hairpiece that kept the wearer's hair sleek and glossy, Angelina bought her a scarf that adjusted its thickness depending on how cold the wearer was, and Katie bought her a small ring that changed colour depending on the mood of the user, but unlike muggle mood rings, this one was exactly accurate. She hugged all the girls and thanked them all, before they then all headed to bed.

* * *

Two days later, it was Christmas Eve, and Daria found herself unable to sleep. This was her very first Christmas away from home, and being completely alone in her dorm left her feeling extremely lonely and homesick. Eventually she couldn't take anymore, and she pulled her jumper on before heading up to Fred and George's dorm. As she knocked on the door, she heard more voices than theirs speaking, and she was surprised to see Charlie opening the door. He too seemed surprised to see her as his eyes widened in shock.

"Daria? What's wrong?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to blink back her tears.

"I'm just a bit homesick and don't want to be alone" she said.

Charlie suddenly found himself being nudged out of the way, and the twins each grasped one of her arms, pulling her into their dorm and seating her on one of the beds. She smiled her thanks and they both grinned back before handing her a bottle of butterbeer and returning back to their game of exploding snap. She looked around the room and noticed that Oliver and Percy were also there, Oliver looking out of the window, Percy reading a book.

"You seem to have set up a small base here."

"Yeah, we decided to borrow the other beds and the floor and camp here." Charlie grinned.

Oliver looked up at that point and waved a greeting to her. She waved back before watching the twins, who then offered to show her how to play. She nodded and within the hour, she had beaten them seventeen times, much to their horror. Eventually they all decided to turn in for the night and she reluctantly stood to go back to her room, only to have Charlie stop her.

"Hey, you can have Lee's bed. Don't worry about McGonagall; she never comes up here at Christmas."

Daria thanked him and quickly ran back to her room to gather the presents she bought them all. When she returned, Oliver, Fred and Percy were already asleep, Charlie looked ready to sleep at any moment, but George was wide awake, waiting for her. She nodded to him and placed everyone's presents on their beds, surprised when they vanished.

"They'll reappear in the morning, along with the other presents you'll get." Charlie sleepily said.

"Oh, cool."

She lay down with a smile on her face. Maybe her first Christmas away from her parents wouldn't be as bad as she once thought.

The following morning, something bouncing on her bed woke her up. She peered her eyes open to see Fred's face less than an inch away from her own. She yelled and sat up quickly, her head colliding with his. Everyone else sat up and looked over at them, seeing Daria clutching her forehead and Fred clutching his nose that had started bleeding. Charlie rolled his eyes and quickly fixed his brother's nose, before turning to the pile of presents at the bottom of his bed and beginning to open them. Fred returned to his own bed and also began to open his presents. Daria's eyes widened as she saw the pile on her own bed. She received a book on quidditch, outlining all the rules and naming all the main teams and legendary players from Charlie. Percy bought her a large box of every flavour beans and the twins bought her a pack of her own exploding snap cards, as well as a wizarding chess set that had been personalised with her name. She hugged them and thanked them all. Molly sent her a pale blue hat and scarf set, knowing that was her favourite colour, as well as a box of homemade fudge. Even Oliver bought her something, a set of miniature brooms that were made to show the differences in each make. Finally she began to open her presents from her parents. She received a new pair of jeans, and new pair of boots and another new journal.

Once everyone had opened their presents they realised it was time to get dressed and head down to lunch. Just as she was leaving the room, there was a tapping noise on the window, and everyone turned to see a beautiful barn owl there. Percy opened the window and it swooped onto Daria's shoulder, dropping a letter into her hands before softly nibbling her ear affectionately. Daria opened the letter and almost squealed in happiness.

_Daria,_

_Your father and I know that you currently use the school's owls to send letters, so we decided to buy you this owl for your main present. We know you love barn owls so we made sure to get her for you. Hope you like her!_

_Love,_

_Mum and Dad._

She looked at the owl on her shoulder and told the others that she was hers.

"What are you going to call her?" Fred asked.

"I think...Sakura is a great name."

Sakura made a clicking noise and nuzzled her face again before swooping out of the window, probably to the infirmary. Daria smiled again before going back to her room to change. Laying in bed that night listening to the soft breathing and snores coming from the males in the room, she decided that this was probably the best Christmas she'd ever had.


	5. Holiday Blues No More

Before she knew it, Daria's first year had come to an end and she was half way through the holidays preparing for her second year. Life had become exceedingly dull and boring and though being back home with her parents was great, she found herself wishing the month of august to go faster so that she could see the twins again. Sure, she missed Lee and all the girls in her dorm too, but she missed the twins the most. Just one look at the photo on her dresser bought a smile to her face. It had been taken back in January. Hogwarts had been hit with snow, and after a boring day of potions and herbology, the twins and Lee dragged her out into the snow along with Angelina and Katie, where they preceded to initiate a snowball fight. Soon, many students from all houses and years joined until virtually the entire school was out in it. Even a few teachers joined in, although poor professor Flitwick ended up wishing he hadn't as he used charms to deflect the snowballs even though there was a strict no magic rule. Unfortunately for him, George caught him and in revenge, stole the professors' wand and got everyone within range to target the small man. After the fight ended and they were all making their way into the castle, Fred suddenly grabbed her waist and not so gracefully threw her into a heap of snow. When she stood up, she jumped on his back and shoved a handful of snow down his back. Once he stopped wriggling and got it out, he flung an arm round her shoulder, and George did the same on the other side. Charlie had his camera on him and took a photo at that point of the three of them grinning widely, covered in snow and dripping wet, bright red noses and cheeks, but looking happier than anybody else was that day.

Daria turned her gaze away from the photo at the sound of wings flapping. She looked to her window just in time to see Sakura gracefully fly in, followed by a fluffy grey owl that not so gracefully crashed into the closed window. She ran forward and grabbed the owl before it could do any more damage to itself.

"Errol, you really need to be a bit more careful."

The grey owl gave her a small hoot and after she took the letter from his leg and put him next to Sakura's food and water bowl, he gave another small hoot of gratitude. Sakura looked at the older owl in sympathy before dropping the letter she was carrying onto the desk. Daria picked the letter up and placed it on the bed before opening the letter Errol had been carrying. As soon as she recognised George's slightly neater than Fred's writing at the top of the page, she smiled widely.

_Hey Dar,_

_I hope summer hasn't been too boring for you without us two lovely chaps there with you! You don't have to wait much longer though because us two gallant knights will be coming to rescue our damsel in distress in two days! Mum and dad have attached a letter with this one for your parents to ask permission, but even if they say no Fred and I will find a way to free you!_

_So, see you in two days!_

_Oh, and mum asked if you would mind keeping hold of Errol for us? e might have heart failure without rest!_

_Lots of love,_

_Forge x_

Daria chuckled as she closed the letter back over, and pulled the other letter out of the envelope. She ran downstairs to find one of her parents, and when she saw Steve in the garden, she rushed out, excitedly calling his name.

"Whoa firecracker, what's wrong?"

"Dad, I just got a letter from George, his parents have invited me to stay at theirs for the rest of the holiday! Here's a letter for you from Molly! Can I go? Please?"

"Well...I don't know..."

"Dad!"

Steve turned his blue eyes to her grey ones and smiled.

"Of course you can go. Do you need help packing?"

But Daria didn't hear him. The second she heard the words 'of course', she took off running back into the house, almost knocking Marie over in the process. Marie looked at her daughter in confusion and turned to Steve who explained why their daughter was so energetic. Marie smiled and turned to follow Daria up the stairs. She found Daria in her room, furiously writing something down so fast, her hand was a blur. Daria noticed her mum in the room and grinned widely before moving over to Sakura and attaching the letter to her owl's leg and telling her to stay at the Burrow once she was there. Sakura hooted very gently and nipped her finger softly before soaring out of the window. When Daria turned to look back at her mum, she saw that Marie already had her suitcase open and had started to pack it. Daria helped her and before long, she was all set to go.

Two days later, Daria woke up at her normal time of eight o'clock, and as she stretched, she felt something solid on the edge of her bed. She cracked an eye open and squealed as she saw two figures sitting either side of her legs. She sat up and flung herself at the closest one to her, which happened to be Fred. He barely caught her in time and hugged her. George however, wasn't so lucky. As she flung herself at him, he lost his balance and the pair of them landed on the floor with a loud bang. Fred started laughing and once they stood up, the pair of them started laughing along with him. Daria then kicked them out of her room so that she could change. Once she was ready, she ran downstairs and greeted Molly and Arthur, then turned to her parents to say farewell. They both hugged her and gave her kisses, and warned her to behave. She gave them an innocent look and they both laughed.

"I usually do. It's those two that don't" She stated.

Fred and George looked at her with indignant expressions, and she burst out laughing. The eventually joined in before pulling her into a joint hug. Soon, they were leaving, and Daria gave her parents one last wave before they disappeared out of sight. When they arrived at the burrow, they were greeted by Charlie, who moved forward to hug Daria. She hugged him back and gave him a warm smile.

"Hey Charlie!"

"Hey kiddo. How was your summer so far?"

"Boring. But I'm here now so I know that's going to change!"

Charlie nodded and led her into the house. She instantly fell in love with the place and found herself fascinated by the many magical instruments dotted around the room, such as the cauldron stirring itself, the knitting needles going with nobody there and the duster floating around the room. She saw that there were two younger kids sitting at the kitchen table and both were looking at her. The boy was giving her an interested look, and the girl was smiling. Daria felt an arm slide round her waist and looked to find that it was George.

"These two are our younger siblings. Ronniekins here is two years younger than us and will be starting Hogwarts next year. Ginny is our sister who is three years younger than us"

Daria smiled at both siblings and Ron stopped glaring at George long enough to send her a half smile back before returning to his glaring. Daria fought the urge to laugh and slid out of George's grip, stepping back and bumping into something. She turned and came face to chest with yet another person she didn't know. He smiled down at her.

"Careful where you step!" He joked.

"Bill, you did that deliberately" Ginny called.

Bill extended his hand out to Daria.

"Hey, I'm the oldest of the Weasley kids. I'm Bill. I'm only here for a few days before I have to get back to work."

Daria shook his hand and when he told her what his job was, she was fascinated and he promised to tell her more about it before he went back to Egypt. Percy didn't come downstairs once, but when he finally did come down for dinner, he seemed surprised to see Daria there.

"Oh! Daria! I had no idea you were visiting!"

Daria could almost _feel _the twins rolling their eyes and suppressed the urge to laugh. Instead she turned a steady gaze onto him and gave him a tense smile.

"Of course Percy. you were probably too busy doing none existing homework."

The twins, Charlie, Bill and Ginny all heard the comment. Bill looked surprised at what she said, but the others all either grinned or burst out laughing. George put his arm back round her shoulder and pulled her into a big hug.

"I've missed you." He said.

Daria blushed before coughing and moving to the table and taking her seat to eat.


	6. Train to Second Year

_I am so sorry for the delay in updating! Until recently, I have had no inspiration to write but my mojo is well and truly back! Enjoy and don't forget: reviews to me are like candy! The more I get, the more hyper I become and do more writing!_

Summer ended too quickly for Daria's liking but still, she found herself just as excited about the new school year as the twins were. It was just a shame that on the morning they left for school, Molly wasn't on speaking terms with the trio after they set fire to one of her favourite rose bushes. It wasn't exactly their fault; Percy had annoyed the twins and so they simply gave him an exploding matchbox. The only problem was that it exploded slightly more viciously than expected, sending sparks straight into the bush and lighting it. Molly, after she'd put it out, had spent an hour lecturing the three on irresponsibility and that they needed to grow up.

After a brief farewell to Molly and Arthur, Daria and the twins hopped on the train and immediately went on the hunt for their friends. Lee found them first and surprised Daria by slinging his arm over her shoulders. She let out a small shriek and he immediately covered his ears and muttered something about her sounding like a banshee, resulting in an elbow in his ribs from said 'banshee'. Fred couldn't stop himself from sniggering and Daria saw that even George was struggling not to laugh. She let out a gush of air and barged past Fred, who's laughter stopped as he saw the annoyance on her face. Daria didn't care and continued down the train, ignoring Fred when he called her back.

By the time she reached the middle of the train, most of her anger had turned into amusement. She contemplated turning back and returning to the others, but she decided to keep on going and find her roommates instead. Just as she turned to look in a compartment for her friends, she collided with something hard. As she stumbled back she heard a chuckle.

"You really need to stop meeting me like that." Came a soft Scottish voice.

Daria immediately grinned.

"Oliver! Hey! Yeah, I know, so far every time I've seen you I've walked into you."

They both grinned.

"So, what brings you at this end of the train? You and the twins usually sit towards the rear." He asked.

"They annoyed me so I walked off. I thought about going back but decided it would be more fun to let them squirm and think that they'd really upset me." She answered with a shrug.

Oliver laughed at that, knowing the twins wouldn't be too happy if they found out that piece of information.

"So, would you like to come in?" he asked, motioning to the compartment he was sitting in.

"Sure."

Daria moved past him and took a seat opposite a tall, blonde Ravenclaw male. He nodded in greeting and she gave him a small smile. He then turned his focus on to Oliver.

"Wow, Wood. Never would've taken you to be interested in children."

Oliver glared at him and he winked at Daria to show he was just joking.

"Actually, McCreed, this is one of my potential new teammates. I assume you are trying for the team, Daria?"

Daria nodded.

"Absolutely. Fred and George taught me all I needed to know over the summer and we practised in their garden a few times. I don't know what position I want to play though, but I know those two both want to be beaters."

Oliver nodded before suddenly jerking upright.

"How rude of me! I forgot to introduce you properly. Daria Jackson, meet Alec McCreed, 7th year Ravenclaw and Seeker on their team. He also happens to be my cousin. Alec, this is Daria Jackson, a second year Gryffindor."

After exchanging greetings, the trio settled into a conversation about quidditch.

"Did you know that Oliver here has been made Captain of Gryffindor? And he's only fifteen!"

Daria looked at Oliver.

"That's brilliant mate! Congratulations!"

"So, I hear Charlie Weasley turned down a position on the England team?" Alec asked.

Oliver snorted and when Daria glanced at him, she could see he was irritated.

"Yeah. He's always had a love for dragons so he's now in Romania working with them." She answered.

"An absolute waste" Oliver muttered.

Daria faced him with a frown.

"Yeah, but at least he's studying what he actually WANTS to study. What's the point in doing quidditch if your heart isn't in it?" she challenged.

Oliver went slightly red and Alec laughed. A sudden squeal from outside made them all look up and Daria instantly jumped up with a large smile on her face. She threw the door open and was immediately engulfed in Angelina's arms.

"I missed yoooouuuuu!" Angelina yelled.

Daria laughed and hugged her friend tighter.

"I missed you too, Ang!"

"Hey! What about me you gits?"

Daria grabbed Alicia and pulled her into the hug, declaring she'd missed the blonde girl too. Daria then remembered Oliver and Alec and pointed her friends to them.

"Hey, want to join us?" she asked.

Alicia looked too and both Daria and Angelina saw that a small blush appeared on her face as she set eyes on Alec. Daria sniggered and nudged her which earned her a glare and punch to the arm, making her grin even more. Angelina went into the compartment and gave both boys an enthusiastic greeting. Daria moved to follow her but Alicia's hand on her arm stopped her.

"What's up, Alicia?" she asked.

"Umm, we say the twins and Lee not so long ago and they, well, one of the twins anyway, asked that when we saw you could we ask if you forgive them. He also says he hopes you rejoin them."

Daria couldn't help but laugh. She knew the twins well enough to know that it had been George worrying and even though a small part of her was smirking at the fact that she's made them squirm, she also felt slightly guilty at making them think they'd really upset her.

"Oh man, those guys! I'm gonna go find them and reveal that I only stayed away for so long to make them squirm a bit. I just got distracted along the way"

Alicia joined in with Daria's laughter and as Daria set off back to the twins' compartment, Alicia joined the other three that had clearly been eavesdropping but were trying badly to look as though they had been conversing with each other.

It didn't take Daria long to find the others and as she entered the compartment with a wide smile on her face, her smile widened at the relief she saw crossing George's face.

"Hi boys, miss me?" she asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Fred gave her a wide grin and pulled her down onto the seat next to him, before continuing with the conversation he'd been having with Lee. George looked at Daria and she smiled softly at him, silently letting him know all was forgiven.


	7. Quidditch Trials

_Hey all, sorry for such a delay in writing! I've sat down and planned this story right to the end but am yet to write this chapter even though I've been working on it for ages! I hate fillers when I just want to get to my favourite parts but as with all stories, they are an evil necessity!_

The first week flew by so quickly, Daria wasn't sure if it had really happened. Before she knew it, she was standing on the quidditch field amongst a small group of Gryffindors. Fred and George stood a few metres away from her and were lost in the conversation they were having. Daria rolled her eyes at the sound of the word Zonko's but couldn't keep the smile off her face as she wandered what the twins were up to now.

Oliver walked out onto the field and immediately, all conversations ceased and everyone turned to face the new house captain. For a second, Oliver looked nervous but he brushed it off pretty quickly before he began to speak to them all.

"Okay you guys, as you may or may not know my name is Oliver Wood and I'm the new Gryffindor captain. Today are the trials for the team, so what I want you all to do is stand in lines of the positions you want. We currently have spaces for two beaters and two chasers. Those who want to be beaters go onto my left, chasers to my right. For those who don't yet know what position they want or would like to be reserves for the positions currently filled, I want you in the centre."

As he finished, there was a flurry of movement as everyone moved to the spots they wanted to go to. Daria saw Fred and George head to the beaters line and smirked, knowing they'd be great at the job. She herself wasn't sure what she wanted to do as she'd never actually played quidditch before, so she strayed to the middle group to try for all the positions. She glanced at Oliver and when she saw he was looking at her, she gave him an encouraging smile which he responded with a small nod.

Once everyone was in the correct groups, Oliver started the tryouts. Firstly, he asked the rest of the current Gryffindor team to fly around and then the people trying out for the beater position were to work in pairs and protect the players from the bludgers for a minute. Daria watched with interest as the tryouts started, but for the first three pairs, she kept her eyes shut as bludger after bludger were missed by the beaters and had to be wrestled under control by the older students. When Fred and George were called up, Daria felt nervous for them and almost didn't watch, however she forced herself to keep looking and found herself immediately surprised to see that the twins not only blocked every single one but by the end had decided to start a game that looked like tennis between them. Daria found herself laughing at their antics and she noticed out of the corner of her eye that even Oliver was smiling.

"Okay you two, that's enough." He spoke after watching them a few seconds.

The pair landed and high-fived Daria, who was still grinning with them. They then sat down on the side of the field along with the others that had already tried out to watch the rest of the group. By the time Daria was called, it was just after lunch and she felt light and refreshed from having some food. She walked onto the field, slightly nervously and gave Oliver a wobbly smile.

"You'll be fine." Oliver reassured her.

"I hope so." She whispered.

Her first task was to act as keeper. The current chasers took turns in scoring against her and out of ten tries, she successfully blocked eight. She saw Oliver smile at her and felt her confidence grow slightly. Next, she had to block ten bludgers, which she did without even thinking, glad for once that her dad had pushed her into playing rounders at her muggle school as it had given her the hand-eye coordination needed to hit the bludgers out of the way. Unfortunately, she hit one bludger a bit too hard and sent it straight towards George's head; however, Oliver was there just in time to hit it back towards Daria. She sent George an apologetic smile and he grinned back, showing all was forgiven, for now. No doubt he would pay her back in some way; he and Fred always did. The third task was to catch golf balls, which represented the snitch. Each throw was different; some throws she had to let drop and dive to catch, others she had to catch as they were ascending. She only missed one and proudly grinned as she threw the ball back to Oliver. Finally, she had to fly around and show that she was able to catch and throw the quaffle accurately. This proved to be her best skill and she caught every ball thrown at her and threw the ball exactly where it was meant to go each time.

When she returned to the group, Fred and George both slapped her on the back with identical grins on their faces.

"That was brilliant! Are you sure you've never played quidditch before?" George teased.

Daria nudged him in the rib and he groaned as he grabbed his side. Fred sniggered but took a couple of steps away from the blonde girl for safety. They all fell into a companionable silence as the last few people tried out, and then before they knew it, Oliver called everyone over.

"Well done, all of you. Now, myself and the remaining members of the current team are going to deliberate and decide on the new team members and we're also going to pick a sub for each position so even if you don't make it on the main team, there is still a chance you'll get to play and secure a place in later years. The results will be posted in the common room after dinner this evening. Good luck to all of you"

Immediately, everyone moved back to the castle, chatting away in their groups, each excited and nervous, hoping they'd made it onto the team. Daria followed behind, once again standing in between the twins, her mind thinking about her tryout. She wandered where she would be put, if she even made it on the team. She'd felt happiest when acting as keeper and beater so she hoped that if she didn't get the other positions, she would at least get to sub for her two favourite. She knew without doubt that they twins would be announced as the new beaters; Oliver would be crazy not to choose them. That or suicidal.

Fred noticed how quiet Daria was being and gently nudged her, breaking her from her train of thought.

"You okay there?" he asked

Daria nodded and gave him a bright smile.

"Uh-huh. Just thinking about how the tryouts went is all."

Fred slung an arm round her shoulder and gave her a hug, something she would have expected George to do, not him.

"It'll be fine. You did great out there, and I'm pretty confident you'll get a spot."

Daria smiled, thankful for his vote of support and she entered the castle with more confidence than she had walking up to it, smiling as the twins started arguing over who was better at cheering her up.

By the time dinner came round, even the twins started to betray their true feelings about the results and she could see that as much as they were trying to hide it, they were both as nervous as she was about their tryout. They ate their food in silence and when they finished, they almost raced each other to the common room. Daria managed to sneak ahead of them and was the first to rush into the common room, barely stopping in time before she ran head first into none other than Percy, who just gave her a warning look before turning and walking off. Daria simply rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at his retreating back, causing George to laugh and clap her on the back.

They both grew sober as they caught sight of the parchment on the wall entitled 'Quidditch Tryout Results'. They both made their way to it and though she didn't see it, she just knew the look on George's face when he saw that he and Fred were the new beaters for the team. She grinned as George bounced off to tell Fred before looking at the list. Her smile dropped as she saw her name wasn't listed, but then she noticed a note pinned to the parchment.

_Last minute addition:_

_This year we found there were two people who were all-rounders so we will have them as substitutes to ALL positions. _

_Jack Murphy_

_Daria Jackson._

_Congratulations to all!_

Daria blinked and read the small note three times before she finally accepted it. She let out an excited squeak and turned to see the twins both looking at her with matching smiles. She ran to them and they all formed an awkward group hug.

"What position did you get?" George asked.

"I'm a sub for all positions as they couldn't choose any one for me to specialise in!"

George hugged her tighter, which gave her all the congratulations she needed. Before long, Angelina too let out a cheer as she read that she was one of the new chasers. Daria was quick to hug the other girl and the pair were soon lost in their conversation, leaving the twins shaking their heads and disappearing to find Lee, both muttering about the strange ways of women as they went.


	8. Tutoring Twins

_Hi guys, I can't believe it has taken me soooo rediculously long to update! My apologies! However, I have this chapter written and In the last hour I wrote the next two chapters and hopefully by the end of today, may aim is to get up to chapter 15 written, so keep your eyes open as I will aim to update at least every couple of days!_

...

By the time the summer holidays came round, Daria didn't know whether to laugh, cry or just melt into a puddle of goo. She probably would have chosen the third option if it was possible. Though she hadn't been studying for her OWLs or NEWTS, she'd done her fair share of work. Halfway through the year, the twins were summoned to McGonagall's office and were talked to about their poor grades. When Daria found out, she gave them both incredulous looks

"How can you have bad grades? You're two of the most intelligent guys in our year!" she yelled.

Fred rolled his eyes while George raised his eyebrows in surprise. George also had the common sense to step back and raise his hands in surrender. Fred was not so smart.

"Yeah, well, who needs grades when you plan on making joke shop merchandise?"

Daria's stormy grey eyes flashed angrily and she stepped forward, poking him in the chest and making him squeak.

"Just because you want to make merchandise doesn't mean you should throw away your education Fred! You do realise that to be good at making jokes and stuff you'll need to have grades in at least potions and charms and more than likely herbology and transfiguration?"

George's eyes widened as he realized the truth to her words. Fred, however, chose to step forwards, a rare glare on his face.

"I don't really care what you say Daria. You aren't my mother, and I'm not going to start improving my grades because you told me to! We can't all be the perfect little bookworm with no life like you!"

Daria said nothing. She just turned and walked to her dorm, trying to blink back the tears that suddenly appeared but finding herself unable to do so. Fred watched her leave, immediately regretting his words, but before he was able to move to apologize, something very solid hit the back of his head, making him yell. He turned, expecting George, only to look in shock as Oliver stood there, glaring at him.

"I think you need to apologize." Was all the quidditch captain said before he too left the room.

Fred rubbed the back of his head and turned to face George who was looking at him in a mixture of humour, annoyance and sympathy.

"What the bloody hell?" he asked.

George simply shrugged.

"I was going to do the same thing; Wood just beat me to it. He's right though, you need to apologize."

Fred walked out of the common room, muttering to himself and George couldn't help but smirk at his twin's retreating back. His smirk turned to a worried frown as the portrait swung shut. He hadn't meant for his grades to slip so far; he had obviously gotten himself too caught up in his pranks with Fred to pay enough attention to his studies. He made his way to his dorm, an idea forming in his mind.

By that evening, the argument had blown over and Daria and Fred were back to their usual ways around each other. After dinner, George managed to find Daria alone and spoke to her.

"Daria, I need some help."

"What is it?" she asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

"I need you to tutor me to get my grades back up."

For a moment, Daria simply sat staring at him in shock. It wasn't until he started turning red and turned to walk away that she gently grasped his arm. She gave him a long gaze before speaking.

"Do you promise me this is no joke and that you genuinely want me help, George?"

George placed his hand on top of hers and met her gaze with a determined one of his own.

"I absolutely promise you this is no joke. If it was, Fred would be around and, as you can see, he's not here. I listened to you earlier and you're right; if Fred and I want to open a joke shop we need to do well in something. I'm not so bothered about a lot of stuff but I definitely want to do well in charms."

Daria gave him a warm smile before stepping forwards and hugging him. He hugged her back and though he never spoke out loud, Daria just knew he was thanking her at the same time. They broke apart just as Fred came bounding into the room, his usual silly grin on his face.

"Guess who just came up with a great idea for a product?" he asked.

George and Daria gave each other a look before turning to Fred and simultaneously shrugging.

"Dunno" Daria said.

Fred frowned and pushed the pair of them.

"Idiots. I just thought about a sweet that could make your tongue swell and grow so by the time you finish it, your tongue is on the floor!" he exclaimed.

Daria watched George's reaction and giggled when she saw the spark ignite in his eyes and his face light up in excitement.

"Yes, yes, yes, YES!" he yelled.

Daria raised an eyebrow at them and rolled her eyes before heading to bed. She didn't want to ruin the moment by asking them exactly how they planned on doing such a task; she'd let them figure it out on their own when one of them tested the product and wouldn't know how to reverse the effects. Then she would end up stepping in as always with the counter spell and put everything right again.

The next day, Daria began to tutor George. For the next few weeks they managed to get by without any interruption, but like all things when you're usually a group of three, it wasn't long before it was noticed that they were alone together a lot. It was a bitter winters evening when Fred jumped out at them huddled over a small fire in the corner of the charms corridor. The pair had been sitting next to each other, George with his arm round Daria's shoulder, but as Fred jumped out with a yell, they sprung apart with matching panicked expressions on their faces.

"I knew you two were doing stuff together. Are you boyfriend and girlfriend or something?" he teased.

Both blushed at the thought, neither old enough to understand the sudden discomfort between them at Fred's words.

"N...no! Of course we're not! We're twelve you idiot!" Daria yelled.

Fred laughed.

"Some first years are dating already. Anyway, if you aren't dating and this isn't a secret lovers rendezvous, what exactly are you doing?" he asked.

It was a slight movement from George that alerted the brash twin to the textbook being hidden behind the other two. He moved forwards and picked it up, seeing Daria's neat writing next to George's slightly scruffy handwriting on a piece of parchment that looked suspiciously like the parchment he'd seen his twin writing on in charms earlier that day.

"Is this what I think it is?" he asked

He watched as George's face reddened and he hung his head. Daria glared and snatched the parchment back.

"Yes it is. I've been helping George raise his grades, because he actually took on board what I said the other week and actually wants to do better and not fail." She stated calmly, though her eyes showed how angry she was towards Fred.

Fred's smirk fell and he gave his twin a soft look.

"And you hid it from me? Come on George, I know I tease you about these things but I would've supported you."

George nodded and grinned at Fred before turning to Daria.

"I guess this means we can actually sit in the common room now, where it's actually warm." He joked.

"Yeah I guess. And Fred can too, if he can swallow his pride long enough to see I'm right this time."

Fred stood with his mouth open and watched, flabbergasted, as Daria walked down the hall back to the common room, barely giving him a second glance. George saw his brother's expression and laughed, slinging an arm round Fred's shoulders.

"She got you there, bro. If I were you, I'd accept the help. She really is a good tutor; she helps you in a way that you don't even feel as though you're actually learning."

Fred frowned slightly as he pondered his brother's words. Maybe the two were right. After all, the last thing he wanted was a howler from his mum demanding to know why his grades were slipping while George's were rising. With a defeated sigh, he dropped his head.

"I guess I don't have much choice, do I?"

The only response was George's laughter echoing through the corridor.


	9. Meeting Draco

_Initially I was going to write a chapter that covered the summer holidays between second and third year, but I just want to get to this stage so that I can introduce Harry, Hermione and Ron etc and really get this main part of the story underway. So yeah, no summer scene, this is third year._

...

Before Daria could blink, she found herself engulfed by a group of flame-haired people the second she stepped onto the platform. Laughing joyously, she hugged each of the Weasley's in return and ruffled Ron's hair.

"Nice to see you finally joining us, squirt." She teased

Ron pushed her hand away and playfully stuck his tongue out at her. She gave him a friendly shove before turning to see where her two favourite Weasley's were. Molly saw the questioning look in her gaze and smiled warmly.

"They've gone to help a young man put his things on the train, so they should be back shortly." She explained.

Daria smiled and nodded before turning at the sound of her dad calling her over. The look in his eyes was pleading and Daria found herself struggling not to laugh at the sight of Arthur firing question after question at her bemused mother and hanging on to ever word she replied with. Daria started walking over when she was suddenly tackled from behind. She spun round and grinned broadly at Lee's ever smiling face.

"Lee! How was the summer?" she asked.

"Never better. I got a new pet, look!"

He opened a box in his hands and Daria leaned closer to see what was inside. A large hairy leg poked out of the box and with a small scream, she threw herself backwards, colliding into another person behind her.

"I'm so sorry!" she gasped as she turned to apologise.

A young boy with pale blond hair and grey eyes glared at her, his mother giving her a look that was a mixture of annoyance and contemplation. The boy glanced at the Gryffindor badge on her uniform and smirked arrogantly.

"Watch where you're going, Gryffindor. I don't want your filth near me."

Daria glared at him.

"Look, I don't care who you are, you have no right insulting me like that. I bumped you, I apologised. All you had to do was acknowledge it and move on."

The boy glared harder at her and stepped forwards, only to be held back by his mother.

"Draco dear, she clearly doesn't know us. My guess is she's muggle. Let's not waste our time or efforts."

Daria bristled at the blatant disregard of her heritage, but kept herself calm as she smirked.

"Well, this is going to be fun. See you around, _Draco_" she said lowly.

Lee put an arm round her shoulders as the couple walked off and Daria gave him a small smile.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I just hate people like that. Blatantly rich and complete arrogant arseholes to boot. I just hope I don't see him at school much. Draco. What a dumb name!" she exclaimed as she snorted in amusement.

"Yeah, stupid name. Completely bonkers." Lee agreed.

"You said it. Now get that thing away from me, unless you're happy for me to obliviate it to next year" she said, indicating to the box in Lee's hand.

"What's the matter? Afraid of a little spider?" he asked.

"No, but that is closer to the size of a rat, so therefore I would prefer for it to be far away from me."

Lee laughed and shrugged before heading off to show his new pet to anybody else who would listen. Daria began to once again walk towards her parents, only to be roughly pulled back for a second time just before she reached them. She let out a scream of surprise and punched wherever she could reach.

"Easy there tiger. We don't want him to be damaged goods" came an amused voice.

Daria grinned and turned round to pull the twins into an embrace. The pair wrapped their arms round her and the three of them suddenly found themselves unable to balance but also unable to pull out of the embrace, so ended up in a laughing heap on the floor.

"Well, it seems you all missed each other" Daria's dad spoke.

Daria tilted her head back from her position on the floor and smiled up at him.

"Of course I did! Umm, as you're there already, could you help me up and free me please?" she asked pleadingly.

Steve laughed and took his daughter's arm, helping to free her from the twins lying on top of her and pulling her to her feet. Daria shot him a grateful smile and he winked. Daria felt a hand on her shoulder and automatically rested her head on her mother's shoulder, knowing her mum wanted the comfort. Marie gave Daria a warm hug.

"I'm going to miss you, baby." She whispered.

Daria hugged Marie back.

"I'll miss you too mum."

"I'll miss you most" Steve interjected with a stage whisper.

Daria and Marie unanimously elbowed him and he laughed as he scooped them both into his arms for a family hug.

"Okay, we both love you and we're both going to miss you, but you need to get on the train or you'll miss it" Marie said once they pulled away.

Daria gave her parents one last hug and kiss before jumping on the train. As they pulled out of the station, she waved out of the window to her parents, but couldn't help but feel as though she was going to miss them more than usual this time.


	10. Sorting Ceremony Reflections

_Continued from last chapter...the sorting of Harry, Ron and Draco!_

When the train reached the station, Daria felt ready to bang the twin's heads together and shove Lee's spider down his throat. The whole journey, Fred and George had been trying to trick her into eating one of their prototype joke sweets that they'd developed over the summer and Lee kept tormenting her about her fear of the spider. It had taken her walking out of the carriage and refusing to talk to them for two hours before they realised that maybe they'd gone a bit too far in their teasing. Once they'd realised however, it didn't take long for them to track her down and apologise and as always, she just had to look in the twin's chocolate coloured eyes and her heart melted so she had no choice but to accept their apologies.

They took their seats in the great hall and Daria couldn't help but snort in amusement at George's complaints that it was taking too long for the sorting ceremony to take place. As they waited for McGonagall to bring the first years through, Daria couldn't help but think about when she was sorted and once again, she wandered why the hat seemed so confused for her to be in Gryffindor. She also wandered about why it called her Malfoy. Part of her was telling her to stop being stupid and that maybe since she was from a wizarding background, the hat could tell which one but another part of her still thought that maybe the hat was simply confused and getting senile in its old age.

The great hall doors opening shook her from her thoughts and she turned her gaze to the line of first years walking up the middle of the room, some in awe, some with excitement, some with fear and a couple that looked ready to bolt or pass out. She fought not to snigger as one boy in particular gripped a toad in his hands and looked as though he was squeezing the poor thing half to death. Professor McGonagall set up the hat and stool and once that hat finished its speech, the ceremony finally began.

As the names were read, Daria found herself spacing out, until one name was called that pulled her abruptly back to the present.

"Draco Malfoy."

With a gasp of surprise, her head shot up and her jaw dropped when she saw the blonde haired boy from the station swagger up to the hat. Before he even sat on the stool she knew what house he was going into and true enough, the hat hadn't even touched his head before it called out 'Slytherin'. Daria kept her eyes on him as he took his place at the Slytherin table, this time seeing him in a different light, noticing how he had hair only slightly darker than her own, with eyes a much paler shade of grey than her own, but still grey nonetheless. A feeling of dread washed over her and she found herself wandering if maybe there was a possibility of being related to the boy. Looking closer still, she noticed with horror that there was definitely something familiar in his appearance, which reminded her of her own looks.

Draco's gaze swept across the room and when he saw the girl that had bumped him at the train station staring at him, he glared and gave her a scathing look. Daria rolled her eyes and turned away, deciding that even if there was a chance they could be related, she wanted nothing to do with him and his family. She silently made a memo to write to her parents in the morning and also vowed not to talk to the twins about her thoughts; they'd never let her live it down.

"And students are forbidden to go into the forest that borders the grounds" Dumbledore's voice spoke, reminding Daria that she had been spaced out and needed to focus.

Daria grinned when she saw Dumbledore's eye flash towards the twins with his note about the forest and Fred nudged her in response.

"You okay? You seemed a little lost in your thoughts for a moment there" Fred whispered once they'd finished singing the school song.

Daria nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just wondering what the timetable will be like this year."

Fred rolled his eyes at her thoughts before turning his attention to the table that was now overflowing with food. Daria also turned her attention to the food, but her thoughts were stopping her from actually feeling hungry.

"Hey Daria!"

Daria looked up and smiled at Ron, who was sitting a few seats down from her.

"Hey Ron, well done mate." She congratulated.

Ron smiled.

"Thanks. I want to introduce you to my new friend; this is Harry Potter."

Daria looked at the small boy next to Ron and gave him a warm smile, determined not to treat him like everyone else had done so far at the mention of his name. She gave him a warm smile and held her hand out to him.

"Hi Harry, I'm Daria Jackson. Nice to meet you."

Harry gave her a shy smile as he shook her hand, but Daria could also see the gratefulness in his eyes that she hadn't freaked out upon hearing who he was. She gave him an understand nod before turning her attention back to the conversation the twins were having with Oliver about finding a new seeker for the team this year. Daria smiled when she saw the hopeful look Oliver gave her, book firmly shook her head.

"Nope. I don't mind substituting but I'm not being a seeker full time. You know I want chaser."

Oliver smiled and shrugged in defeat.

"I knew that would be your answer but I still wanted to try anyway just in case."

Daria smirked.

"Nice try, but no."

She felt slightly guilty at the way Oliver's shoulders sagged, but her determination to become chaser for the team was stronger than her guilt and she found herself easily returning to her food and changing the subject to a more jovial one, laughing as George tried to stop Fred from choking, only to end up choking himself when he laughed and inhaled some food at the same time.


End file.
